This blog is about beer and breweries, particularly German ones, as well as observations on life in Germany or elsewhere I may travel.

2016-04-28

Annibeersary!

Humans are very

weird. For some strange reason,
we have decided that the number 10 is a great base for counting when 12 would
have been much better, and for some even stranger reason we find it endlessly
fascinating when we’re dealing with so-called “round” numbers – such as the
numbers 5, 50 and 500. Imagine my delight, then, when I dis-covered that these
particular three numbers all ganged up on me last weekend to provide me with
the ultimate excuse to both drink beer and then subsequently write about it.

The number 500 should require no
explanation. It is, after all, the main anniversary of 2016 since it marks 500
years since some Ludwig or other suspected that brewers at the time added too
much dodgy stuff into their brews – apparently, some were chucking in horse
manure, soot and various poisonous herbs to make the beer taste better or last
longer – and thus declared that beer was only allowed to be brewed using three
ingredients, namely water, hops and malted barley. Of course, brewers have
since discovered that a fourth ingredient sneaks into the beer as well, namely
yeast – without which there would be no alcohol in the beer – so the actual law
has been updated accordingly. However, apart from this, the law has remained in
force for 500 years except that it hasn’t since the EU banned it after the
Belgians complained.

The Beer Blogger seeking inspiration for his 50th beer blog post

The numbers 5 and 50 both relate to this
very blog, though – for it was here, 5 years ago, that I took my first beerful
steps into the world of online, unedited publishing, hoping that my ramblings
may reach an audience of millions and providing me with endless product
placement opportunities from all the good breweries in this world. It hasn’t
quite gone to plan, but I have still managed to keep writing – and what you’re
reading is blog post number 50. I hope you’ve enjoyed the journey as much as I
have, and feel free to send me more beer.

Back to the aforementioned law. It is known
either by its German name, the “Bayrische Reinheitsgebot”, or by its somewhat
meek English translation, “the Bavarian Purity Law”. You can discuss until the
cows come home whether or not German is a beautiful language, but you cannot
deny that some of the words carry more weight than their English equivalents,
mostly due to them being about ten times longer. What is beyond reasonable
doubt though, is the fact that the law was signed in the Bavarian city of
Ingolstadt, a smallish town sat nicely on the mighty Danube about halfway
between Munich and Nuremberg.

An authentic recreation of the first proclamation of the Reinheitsgebot

The Germans usually know how to put on a
good party, whether it is the world’s biggest – Oktoberfest – or a small
village event in some dog-forsaken place that no-one’s ever heard of. These
parties usually revolve around drinking loads of beer and listening to some
oompah band playing cheesy tunes whilst dancing on the benches in a big tent.
It was therefore exactly such an event I foresaw when I spotted an ad for
Ingolstadt’s 500-year celebration party, to take place on the weekend of the 23rd
of April 2016, exactly 500 years to the day after the Reinheitsgebot was
signed. For this reason, it came as a big surprise when we finally got there and
discovered that the theme was distinctly medieval and based on a surprising
number of bands sporting bagpipes and drums in various combinations of bagpipes
and drums, though I also spotted a flute. These bands toured around three or
four stages set up in a couple of streets in the old city, farting their
pipes and banging their drums so loudly that the only thing to do was to buy
beer and sit down to listen and tap a foot or two. Needless to say, it was
fantastic fun.

What was also nice to see was that this
fest actually did celebrate beer instead of merely using beer as a lubricant to
get the party going. Nine different breweries had set up stands where
excellent beer was dispensed and where real choice was on offer, from standard Helles through Rotbier to a hearty Bock.

We made loads of friends in Ingolstadt

Furthermore, there was an absolutely superb guided tour that took you through
the history of the Reinheitsgebot – unlike many such tours, this was anything
but dry since was it both extremely well narrated by people who knew how to
entertain an audience, and more importantly broken up nicely by visiting all
nine brewery stands for tastings. These were supposed to be 0.2 litres each,
but every time our goblets were filled we seemed to “accidentally” get a fair
bit extra, so by the end most people had imbibed at least two litres plus perhaps
what their other halves could not handle. The general mood of the tour was,
therefore, continuously getting more boisterous – and then, the grand finale! A
water fountain was ceremoniously turned into a beer fountain, thus finally making sense of the concept "drinking fountain", and we were
once again allowed to fill our tankards to the brim. I have since decided to
start a political party with the sole aim to get all drinking fountains to
occasionally dispense beer. What a day – and it was not yet 3pm!

The popularity of the fountain increased exponentially once it started dispensing beer

Sadly, we had to catch the train home just
after this, which turned out to be a major anticlimax. However, looking back at
Ingolstadt, the Reinheitsgebot and everything I have ever known about German
beer, I think I can safely say that this was one of the highlights of my
beer-loving life. A lot of beer aficionados debate whether the Purity Law is
good or bad these days – some think it stifles innovation, others think it
encourages brewers to maintain or improve quality. What is beyond unreasonable doubt
though, is that Germany has some of the best beer in the world and that the Law
has done its reputation no harm whatsoever. Having witnessed a tendency for
German brewers to be a little bit “stuck in the past” over the last decade, I
am also happy to announce that the beers on offer in Ingolstadt included several
made by young, enthusiastic and innovative brewers who seem happy to experiment
a little, even though they may prefer to do so with only water, malt, hops and
yeast.

Anyway, this turned out to be a relatively long
50th post, but I nevertheless hope that you’ve enjoyed reading my
beery ramblings for the last 5 years or so, and if you haven’t then you should
probably try and read them all again since they’re awesome. In some ways I’ve
come full circle – I intended the blog to be mainly about German beer, but it
has turned out to be more international than I had anticipated – so on this
massive occasion of the 50th post it is nice come back and give my
adopted home a good whatever the opposite of bollocking is. Don’t worry, I
shall be back writing about foreign lands soon enough, I’ve got several plane
tickets booked and I’ve packed a toothbrush. As they say in Kuala Lumpur:
Sorakan!

1 comment:

What a great read! I felt like I was at Reinheitsgebot! Oh how I miss Germany...the type of place where beer is celebrated as an amazing human achievement! I remember looking at your cap collection boasting over 100 beer and thought to myself, "this man means business, he's on a true mission". I'll say congratulations on your 50th post! I must confess I haven't read them, so I cannot comment on their quality...but I did read this one! For a Norwegian you excecute the English language better than I do and I agree humans are daft folk, with our choice of odd numbers and English being an all too odd language where "tears" and "tears" can mean two different things based on intonation (Jessica can insert some correct lingual term here). Anyways, I wish Canada would hold more celebrations such as these. With the guests of honour being the crafted beers and the celebration of their craft. I have noticed that over the past years there is a surge of small craft breweries that have sprung like spring flowers(Jess can also add what type of lingual word craft I used). I hope this continues as it would lay the foundation for a great celebration in Canada to honour the craft brews of our land that do make a point to honour, "the Bavarian Purity Law". I have to say having visited you and Gina in Germany and experiencing your love for beer has inspired me to be more conscious of the flavours they have to offer. From bacon beer to my now ever favourite hefeweizen! I just can't believe the world I was missing buying beer for quantity than for quality! I'm excited to have you in Kenora to experience the Lake of the Woods Brewery which has a fine selection for such a young brewery! (Even though technically it was first founded in 1898) It will also be the beer on tap at the reception and dinner for your enjoyment. Also, I know a 50$ scotch is in order...haha! Jess and I look forward to having you here to try my hometowns creation and experience the wilderness of Northwest Ontario.